Political crisis grows in Tunisia after cabinet reshuffle

TUNISIA’S Nidaa Tounes party, which holds 51 out of 217 seats in parliament, called on its sitting cabinet ministers to withdraw from the country’s coalition government in the wake of a recent cabinet reshuffle. In a statement yesterday, the party also urged its MPs not to take part in a proposed parliamentary vote on the cabinet shake-up. Prime Minister Youssef Chahed announced the cabinet reshuffle on Monday, the 10th major cabinet overhaul since then. He said it would “make the work of government more effective and to put an end to the political and economic crisis.” Chahed kept the leadership of finance, foreign and the interior ministries unchanged.

Tunisian President Caid Beji Essebsi said yesterday he was ready to swear in ten new ministers named in a reshuffle that he had originally rejected, easing a high-level political standoff.

The dispute highlighted tensions at the highest levels of Tunisian politics that have been exacerbated by an economic crisis. Chahed leads a government dominated by the ruling Nidaa Tounes party. But the prime minister has been caught up in a dispute with the leader of the party, Hafedh Caid Essebsi, who is also the president’s son and has accused Chahed of failing to tackle high inflation, unemployment and other problems. The political wrangling has alarmed donors which have kept the country afloat with loans granted in exchange for a promise of reforms such as cutting a bloated public service.